When in strife, turn to your happy place - CSK edition
Almost everyone on this planet has their happy place. A place where they feel comfortable and confident about themselves and just at home. For some, it is, quite literally, a place. For others, it may be a person or even an environment. Whatever it is, whenever at this happy place, there is a sense of calm and a feeling that nothing can ever go wrong.
These metaphors extend to sports as well. Whether it be Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, Liverpool at Anfield, or the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk.
Whenever these teams walk onto their hallowed turf, they feel they can do anything and everything, most of which stems from the pride they take playing at these venues, but also because they know how to soak in the atmosphere and use it to their advantage.
Monday against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) was a perfect example of that. For six overs, that notion was tested, with KKR running rampant in the powerplay, ransacking 56 for the loss of one wicket. But then, Ravindra Jadeja happened. And the rest of the story, well, it took the turn that CSK and their fans would have wanted.
There is a very old adage in the IPL; when the ball starts stopping and spinning, CSK become a different beast. Against KKR, it stopped, it spun and it stuck. And that was enough for CSK and their band of spinners to start making their mark.
CSK's spinners tied KKR down
It all started just after the powerplay. Jadeja, not knowing what the track would do, bowled his stock ball on a length on the middle stump. Angrish Raghuvanshi, fresh off a half-century against the Delhi Capitals, tried - rather ambitiously – to reverse-sweep Jadeja off his length.
Bad decision. Not on a wicket that was gripping. Not against Jadeja.
A thump on the pads, and Raghuvanshi was walking back to the shed. A few balls later, Sunil Narine, who has been KKR’s marauder-in-chief this season, fell trying to impose himself on the left-arm spinner.
It may seem a routine dismissal for someone whose brief is to swing for the hills every ball. But Jadeja induced that false stroke by bowling it just outside Narine’s hitting arc and forcing him to hit to an area that he is not as comfortable hitting.
Jadeja was not done. An over later, sensing that Venkatesh Iyer was looking to go big, he shortened his length and bowled it much quicker. With the ball holding up, Venkatesh was not sure of how quickly the ball would get to him, eventually clothing it to Daryl Mitchell at deep mid-wicket.
Maheesh Theekshana, playing his second game on the trot, then castled Ramandeep Singh to firmly throw KKR into turmoil. It is also worth mentioning the bamboozling over Theekshana delivered to Venkatesh (the eighth of the innings), which played a massive role in the batter then wanting to attack Jadeja.
Four wickets falling to spin across a nine-over chunk is not unheard of, especially in the IPL. But because of what had preceded this game and how it shaped up, it became quite significant.
Before Monday, the CSK spinners, in two matches, had failed to pick up a wicket at Chepauk. Only four wickets fell to spin in those fixtures. That said, the numbers did make for grim reading, given how the franchise has, over years and years, banked on their spinners.
There was a bit of chatter around Jadeja too. He did play a couple of useful cameos with the bat, but his bowling and lack of effectiveness were dominating social media discourses, particularly with a T20 World Cup looming.
Those who want to pull Jadeja down will continue to do so. It might be said that this three-wicket haul was picked up on a surface that was very helpful to him. The thing in cricket, though, is that you can only bowl on what has been served up, and while some of the previous criticism may have been warranted, the praise for this performance is most definitely deserved.
This was a sort of redemption for Theekshana too, and served as a timely reminder to the team management that he still warrants a place in CSK’s first-choice eleven.
But away from all of that, it was another reiteration that CSK know how to win at Chepauk. That when they make their way to the ground, they, almost instinctively, know what they have to do.
On some days, the games are high-scoring. On others, like it was on Monday, it is more of a grind. But CSK, the moment they walk out at Chepauk, feel they can win any type of game. And when the ball starts stopping, spinning, and sticking, Jadeja and their spin contingent make them feel they can win any game.
This is their happy place. Their home. A place they turn to (pun intended) whenever they are in strife, and whenever things are starting to fall apart. Chepauk makes CSK feel comfortable, and when CSK feel comfortable, millions of fans, most likely dressed in bright yellow, sleep well.
That is what your happy place is meant to do anyway, isn’t it?